I hope this will be kept in mind when I am accused of being bigoted etc. in that in terms of those serving, their race and ethnicity is irrelevant--at least from the perspective of the USMC they are Marines....period.

I hope this will be kept in mind when I am accused of being bigoted etc. in that in terms of those serving, their race and ethnicity is irrelevant--at least from the perspective of the USMC they are Marines....period.

I saw some of a thing the other night on Marine training, and I laughed my socks off. Well, not literally. There was one scene where two DS were about half a centimetre from this fellas face shouting at him. Whilst shouting at him they seemed to get excited and started wildly gesticulating and even dribbling/spitting. Can't really see what that did...would have made me larf.

I saw some of a thing the other night on Marine training, and I laughed my socks off. Well, not literally. There was one scene where two DS were about half a centimetre from this fellas face shouting at him. Whilst shouting at him they seemed to get excited and started wildly gesticulating and even dribbling/spitting. Can't really see what that did...would have made me larf.

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I for one would have enjoyed immensely being present when you "larfed" under such circumstances.

What that, and all the other well-choreographed performances at USMC boot camp, are intended to do is to strip away the civilian encrustations in the shortest possible time through disorientation (for example, it is no coincidence that they arrive after a long bus ride and at night) and extreme physical and psychological stress (although I hasten to add not actual physical assault that was common in the old days but will now immediately cause the offender to be relieved of the coveted position of drill instructor and disciplined, up to and including court martial if warranted) in order to "rebuild" the recruit into the sort that we expect in the USMC.

I can assure you that while it may not be understood or acceptable to those in other services with other views as to how to train their own recruits, this system is not at all random as it may appear to a recruit or an outsider seeing only one part of the entire process. Indeed, it is the result of a constant evaluation and adaptation process that adjusts aspects of the indoctrination process with the type of recruit society is providing but without adversely affecting the core aspects of the process that have proven successful over the last 75 years or so.

I for one would have enjoyed immensely being present when you "larfed" under such circumstances.

What that, and all the other well-choreographed performances at USMC boot camp, are intended to do is to strip away the civilian encrustations in the shortest possible time through disorientation (for example, it is no coincidence that they arrive after a long bus ride and at night) and extreme physical and psychological stress (although I hasten to add not actual physical assault that was common in the old days but will now immediately cause the offender to be relieved of the coveted position of drill instructor and disciplined, up to and including court martial if warranted) in order to "rebuild" the recruit into the sort that we expect in the USMC.

I can assure you that while it may not be understood or acceptable to those in other services with other views as to how to train their own recruits, this system is not at all random as it may appear to a recruit or an outsider seeing only one part of the entire process. Indeed, it is the result of a constant evaluation and adaptation process that adjusts aspects of the indoctrination process with the type of recruit society is providing but without adversely affecting the core aspects of the process that have proven successful over the last 75 years or so.

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But essentially based on the assumption that you have to shout at people a lot to get the best out of them... and I'm not sure that's actually true.

I saw some of a thing the other night on Marine training, and I laughed my socks off. Well, not literally. There was one scene where two DS were about half a centimetre from this fellas face shouting at him. Whilst shouting at him they seemed to get excited and started wildly gesticulating and even dribbling/spitting. Can't really see what that did...would have made me larf.

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There was a certain amount of that when I was in basic training. It was frequently accompanied by a punch, kick, slap or a whack from a cut down broom stick (NCOs carried them as a 'teaching aid' ostensibly for pointing at maps and diagrams). It wasn't as ritualised as the USMC version, and didn't come from every instructor. Personally I think that you get more out of people through encouragement and good example, but the 'confrontational approach' worked initially for instilling automatic obedience and quickly breaking some lazy civilian outlooks.

I for one would have enjoyed immensely being present when you "larfed" under such circumstances.

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I'll bet you would

What that, and all the other well-choreographed performances at USMC boot camp, are intended to do is to strip away the civilian encrustations in the shortest possible time through disorientation (for example, it is no coincidence that they arrive after a long bus ride and at night) and extreme physical and psychological stress (although I hasten to add not actual physical assault that was common in the old days but will now immediately cause the offender to be relieved of the coveted position of drill instructor and disciplined, up to and including court martial if warranted) in order to "rebuild" the recruit into the sort that we expect in the USMC.

I can assure you that while it may not be understood or acceptable to those in other services with other views as to how to train their own recruits, this system is not at all random as it may appear to a recruit or an outsider seeing only one part of the entire process. Indeed, it is the result of a constant evaluation and adaptation process that adjusts aspects of the indoctrination process with the type of recruit society is providing but without adversely affecting the core aspects of the process that have proven successful over the last 75 years or so.

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Don't get me wrong, I understand why they shout etc, I have done basic myself, although not marine basic which may have been much more amusing . I just can't see how two people bobbing up and down, waving their arms wildly about like lunatics, dribbling whilst shouting hysterically at some fella does anything apart from make him deaf. To me it looked like even the DS had lost the plot, which isn't really a good example....each to their own though. An RSM would put them to shame.